Rinderknech downs Medvedev to set up family-feud final

Arthur Rinderknech and Valentin Vacherot set up an unprecedented family-feud final at the Shanghai Masters on Saturday as the pair of cousins advanced against all odds to the title match.

The Sunday showdown between Monaco’s Vacherot and his French cousin Rinderknech will pit a pair who played university tennis in the US and who each defeated a former world No. 1 in their semi-finals.

Rinderknech put the final touches on the war of the relatives with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 defeat of Daniil Medvedev which Vacherot – at 204 the lowest-ranked player to ever reach a Masters 1000 final – stopped Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-4.

After Medvedev double-faulted on a second Rinderknech match point, the stunned winner fell to his knees on court, staring at the ground as he no doubt pondered his unexpected accomplishment.

Coaches then led Vacherot courtside where the cousins embraced.

“I can’t even say this is a dream – I could have never dreamed this.” Rinderknech said.

“This came out of nowhere; maybe we started believing (in this final) in the quarters. Now we are here, we both fought through so many matches – this is just incredible.”

The French winner said that despite playing a night match, the notorious humidity which has plagued this edition in China made life a misery.

“I couldn’t finish a point with Daniil, the ball is so slow.. I was dead after the first set, but I told myself that if I was to lose to still fight like crazy.

“That might make Daniil tired and would help Val in the final. I don’t know how any of this worked out, I don’t understand anything right now.”

Rinderknech becomes the ninth Frenchman to reach a Masters final while his No. 204 cousin is the second man ranked outside the top 200 to earn three 3 top 20 wins in one event in this century.

Rinderknech ended with 47 winners and came to the net nearly 50 times in his upset victory.

Main photo:- Daniil Medvedev congratulates Arthur Rinderknech in Shanghai by ATPTour.com